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Fairview Park sees cutbacks on city maintenance

Fairview Park, in VPNA’s Pleasanton sub-neighborhood, is one of six parks selected by the city for reduced maintenance this summer.

According to a Statesman article June 21, 2012. Six parks and six medians/rights of way in Boise that was selected for reduced maintenance — every-other-week mowing, less watering, no weeding — beginning in early April. If implemented in all neighborhood and community parks, the program could save the city $340,000 annually. Parks staff recommended to city leaders that neighborhoods be notified about the cutbacks, but “the mayor and council elected not to make a notification because they wanted to wait and see what comments might be received,” according to minutes from the commission’s April 19 meeting. Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/06/21/2163078/boise-cuts-some-park-services.html#storylink=cpy

Remember this is a pilot project, so it might be implemented across more parks citywide in the future. If a park with more weeds, long grass or even brown grass is undesirable to you please let the city know. Perhaps a positive way to accomplish the task of reducing park maintenance and cost would be to convert grass to native, water wise plantings.

The city wants to hear what you think about this pilot project. If you think the appearance of Fairview Park has changed for the worse, then please let the city know by completing the survey at the link below. Please note, you can complete the survey multiple times throughout the summer when you feel the park’s appearance is undesirable.

The City of Boise has completed a pilot program launched in April to determine if reduced maintenance levels in city parks and public rights-of-way could be used as a low-impact way of saving taxpayer dollars.

The pilot program reduced the amount of mowing, watering, trimming, bed care, and other maintenance procedures in in six neighborhood parks and six rights-of-way maintained by Boise Parks & Recreation. Residents can expect maintenance levels in pilot areas to return to previous levels for the immediate future.

“This pilot program has been productive because it allowed us to measure both how different types of vegetation respond to varying levels of service and if those levels meet the expectations of our citizens,” said Interim Parks & Recreation Director Doug Holloway.

The City will use the data collected to make decisions about future parks maintenance strategies.

Additionally, the Mayor and Council have directed the department to explore new design standards including alternative types of vegetation and landscaping that require less water and overall maintenance.

Our thanks to citizens who took the time to respond to the survey and provide their opinions about parks and rights-of-way sites in the program.